1. Technical Field of the Invention
The embodiments of the invention relate to communication systems and, more particularly, to systems implementing multimedia over coax.
2. Description of Related Art
In today's highly technology oriented environment, wireless communication devices and networks are being implemented in various applications and environments. For example, in a typical home setup, an access point device is connected to a wired backbone to communicate wirelessly with one or more devices, which are generally termed as stations. Station devices include, but are not limited to, laptop or note book computers, tablet computers, telephones (e.g. smart-phones), printers, displays, cameras, speakers, headphones, microphones, game consoles and peripherals, etc. In order to communicate within the network, the access point (such as a router) operates as the central controlling mechanism for the various stations and manages the wireless traffic in the network. The network may be further complicated when these station devices set up their own peer-to-peer communications or piconets, such as Bluetooth™ connections.
When the traffic level increases, a single access point network may be overburdened and bandwidth may be constrained. The limited bandwidth may present a challenge when high data rate traffic, such as streaming video, is being routed wirelessly between/among the devices in the network. With certain traffic, a slight delay in data flow or interruptions have minimal impact for the user. However, with certain other traffic, any interruption or delay may impact the user's enjoyment. For example, for ultimate enjoyment, it is generally desirable not to have interruptions of a movie being viewed by a user. Accordingly, with various high data rate transmissions, a Quality of Service (QoS) requirements are being established for data transfer, in order to obtain and maintain user enjoyment.
One mechanism for increasing wireless traffic is to employ multiple access points. Having multiple access points in a home, work environment, or any other location, permit various devices to connect to the network through multiple locations. Further, when the access points are distributed throughout the network at different physical locations of the network, a mobile station may obtain access through one access point at a first location, move from one location to another location and obtain access at the second location via a second access point. Such arrangement allows a mobile station to move from one location to a second location and still maintain access to the network.
When independent access points are utilized in a network at multiple locations, each access point operates as an independent agent on the network. This arrangement requires a station to perform a complete association routine each time a station attempts to connect to a different access point. Not only does this procedure require additional time for the establishment of the connection between the station and the new access point, which could interrupt traffic flow, but the cost of placing fully independent access points at multiple locations may escalate equipment cost.
In order to reduce costs, but maintain an acceptable QoS requirement for a multiple access point network, the communication industry has started a move toward the establishment of lightweight access points (LWAPs or LAPs). A LWAP or LAP is an access points that does not operate on its own and require a separate controller. When multiple LAPs are utilized on a network, each LAP communicates with a central controller on the network and each LAP is controlled by the central controller. Protocols, such as Lightweight Access Point Protocol (LWAPP) and Control and Provisioning of Wireless Access Point Protocol (CAPWAP) are being defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) for implementation with lightweight access points, typically within an enterprise environment.
However, the LAPs, along with the protocols, are defined for use on a wired local access network (LAN) backbone. A typical wired LAN network is an Ethernet LAN and the backbone is comprised of multiple wires. In a typical home network, LAN wires are distributed to various rooms in a house and various connections may be established at the line terminations. It is envisioned that lightweight access points may be connected to these wired LAN terminations.
Although a wired LAN can provide a backbone in many home applications, the physical properties of the wires present certain limitations on the signal frequency and bandwidth that may be obtained from the wired LAN network. In order to obtain higher frequency traffic flow, the embodiments of the invention implement the concept of lightweight access points using a cable network, since many home environments also have already installed coaxial cables for viewing of television signals from cable and/or on-demand service providers.